“Hitler is a child at heart next to Netanyahu”: the controversial exit of the triple French Olympic medalist Mahiedine Mekhissi

2023-11-01 00:37:45

It’s a media release that is likely to cause a lot of talk. Former French athlete Mahiedine Mekhissi, triple Olympic medalist in the 3000m steeplechase, compared Adolf Hitler and Benjamin Netanyahu in a message broadcast Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter).

“Adolf Hitler is a child at heart compared to Netanyahu! The West is real collaborators,” writes the now retired sportsman on the social network, accompanied by several hashtags establishing parallels between the Israeli state and the Nazi regime (#NaziIsrael, #IsraeliNewNazism…).

“And to think that this individual wore the French team jersey”

The former athlete’s tweet had already sparked some reactions on Tuesday evening. “And to think that this individual wore the French team jersey! I’m ashamed for our city… what a wreck,” Arnaud Robinet, mayor of Reims, Mahiedine Mekhissi’s hometown, replied on X.

Since October 7 and the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the ex-athlete has multiplied the relay of publications critical of the Jewish state and its bombings on the Gaza Strip, which have caused the deaths of thousands of civilians in recent years. recent weeks, according to figures from the Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health.

Mahiedine Mekhissi ended his sporting career last January. In addition to his three Olympic medals obtained in Beijing in 2008, London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, the French athlete has also been crowned European champion five times: four times in the 3000m steeplechase, once in the 1500m steeplechase.